Avocado Fries with Spicy Dipping Sauce and BBQ Sour Cream Chive Dip

1. Deep frying...and avocados. I was skeptical, I'll admit it. And maybe wouldn't have tried it out if it weren't for this group. Gettin' outside my box!

2. I cook and stuff, a girl can't live on cupcakes and cookies alone, but my blog is definitely heavier on the baked goods. I don't have a lot of practice taking pictures of fried things.

3. The smell of hot oil makes my mother nauseous. Making these entails dragging our mechanical deep fryer out to the mudroom and guessing at the oil temp, which is maintained with a blinking light and my gut instinct.

But...I did it! Done did. I was surprised at how the avocados behaved here, I thought they might fall apart and get super mushy. And hey, they might've, just make sure your avocados are medium ripe! You want just a bit of give when you press on them, definitely no squish happening here. But anyway, they behaved more like potatoes do when you deep fry them. Crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside!

How did they taste? Pretty lovely, actually! I was pleasantly surprised. Avocados by themselves have a very sort of...green taste to them. But, with deep frying, a hefty amount of salt, and some lovely dips, you're golden! I could only eat so many of these though, they do fill you up. These should definitely be on every restaurant menu! They make for a fun appetizer.

Just an FYI, unlike most of the stuff I post here, I will not be posting the avocado fries recipe. Why? Well, one of the reasons we're doing the Sundays with Joy group is to promote the use-age and buy-age of Joy's book, which is available on Amazon and other sources for a very decent price. Check it out!

So, why have I been posting the other recipes in my previous Sundays with Joy posts? Well, in those, I changed three or more ingredients, and just put my own twist on things. Here, the only thing I did was add some dipping sauces. And those recipes I can share! I highly encourage you to get your hands on Joy's book and get the recipe from there. And hey, then you've got 99 other recipes to try out too! Sweet deal.

Spicy Dipping SauceYield: about 1 cup

Ingredients:

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup sour cream

2 teaspoons chili sauce, or ketchup

2 tablespoons prepared horseradish, optional

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

1/8 teaspoon dried oregano

dash ground pepper

dash cayenne pepper, or hot sauce

Directions:Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Serve immediately, or chill until ready for use.

Barbecue Sour Cream Chive DipYield: about 1 cup

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sour cream

3 tablespoons buttermilk

2 tablespoons barbecue sauce

1 teaspoon hot sauce

two pinches salt

3 tablespoons fresh chives, sliced tiny

Directions:Whisk together the sour cream, buttermilk, barbecue sauce, hot sauce, and salt. Add in a heaping tablespoon of chives, and save the rest for garnishing just before serving. Keep cold.